The present invention relates to a microscope tube for a microscope.
For microscopic examination of objects, use is often made of microscopes in which an objective forms an image of the object, which can be viewed through an eyepiece, if necessary after further intermediate imaging. The microscope tubes of use may be microscope tubes for only one eyepiece and, in particular, also binocular microscope tubes. In order to make ergonomic working conditions possible at such a microscope for users having different physical heights and different ratios of arm and trunk lengths, it is desirable to enable adjustment of the eyepieces at least in height or vertically, and horizontally or in the viewing direction. Moreover, it may also be advantageous to be able to adjust the viewing angle. However, these latter possibilities of adjustment are not as important as the first two possibilities of adjustment, because the differences between different persons are less significant with regard to the viewing angle.
In order to allow adjustment of the eyepieces, the microscope tube needs to be made suitably adjustable. Such adjustable microscope tubes are basically known already.
Thus, DE 195 13 870 A1 and DE 35 08 306 A1 describe tube systems, wherein the viewing angle is adjustable by the use of a tiltable mirror. However, this solution has the disadvantage that, when changing the viewing angle, a height adjustment is simultaneously effected. Conversely, a height adjustment is not possible without changing the viewing angle. Therefore, such microscope tubes only have a relatively small range of adjustment.
DE 101 30 621 A1 describes a microscope tube which is adjustable in height while the viewing angle remains unchanged. For this purpose, a tube portion, which comprises a tube lens and elements arranged following said tube lens in the beam path, is displaceable relative to afocal entrance optics in a manner allowing the infinite beam path in front of the tube lens to be extended. However, horizontal adjustment or adjustment along the viewing direction is not possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,515 describes a microscope tube, which comprises afocal optics in the form of a Galilean telescope, which are displaceable relative to an objective of a microscope, for height adjustment, and a tiltable mirror for adjustment of the viewing angle, i.e. of the pivoting direction of the eyepiece. Moreover, the arrangement of the tiltable mirror in the infinite beam path following the afocal optics allows adjustment of the viewing depth, i.e. of the position of the eyepiece in the direction of the optical axis of the eyepiece. However, this solution has the disadvantage that the Galilean telescope, due to the unfavorable position of its exit pupil, only provides a limited possibility of displacement and requires large lens diameters of the subsequently arranged optical elements. Moreover, a camera output is difficult to realize on the microscope tube.
DE 33 05 650 A1 describes a microscope tube, wherein three mirrors arranged in joints respectively deflect the beam path. This solution provides a relatively large adjustment area in different spatial directions. However, the tracking of the mirrors in each joint and the stabilization of the movable parts in the respectively desired position require a complex construction of the microscope tube.